After one week of city walking, bus riding, and cold rainy days, I have found that the forest definitely calls my name, but I have learned so much! Last week we all stayed with different homestay families that complimented our interests very well. For example, we have a few music junkies on the trip, and they got put with small-scale Brazilian rock stars! Some really liked kids or dogs, and they were matched up perfectly. A few love the city life, so they were placed almost right in the middle of downtown. My family was a young couple who both love basketball, and even have Kevin Garnet figurines in their house!
Their apartment was somewhat small for American standards, but they also don't need much because it's just the two of them normally. Their names were Dani and Danilo, and they both have daytime jobs. Dani made amazing food like stroganoff, rice and chicken, and pao de queso (cheese bread). She also made this amazing drink called abacate com leite, which is avocado with milk and sugar. It might sound gross, but it was one of the most amazing things I have had so far on the trip!! Here's a picture:
The only downside to last week was that for two of the days it was raining, but of course we still had to go to Portuguese class, so what else to do except prepare to get wet! Walking the streets and riding the bus in the rain was interesting to say the least, and what I would have given to have had my rainboots with me! But I made the best of it and this is what I came up with.
The only awkward moment I had this past week was when I had gone out my classmates to hear a band play, and came back to the apartment complex at three in the morning. Normally I can just walk into the building, but this time the gate guard stopped me, so I had to try and explain why I was living there, in Portuguese! He definitely understood me, but for some reason he didn't believe that I was only staying there for a week and was from the United States. What kind of threat is a girl with only a purse, at three in the morning, that arrived in a taxi, who has the keys to the apartment going to pose to anyone?! Nonetheless, he had to call Danilo and make sure that I wasn't lying. Fortunately Danilo was still awake because he had been playing Grand Theft Auto, but I still felt bad. Other than that situation, the whole week was awesome and I learned alot!! Here are Danilo, Dani and I at his pick-up basketball game on Sunday.
Living with a host family is different in general, but when you can barely speak their language and have completely different customs, it can be difficult. Danilo could speak pretty good English, but Dani could only say a few words. Dani and I made flashcard type things and taped them up on the objects that they corresponded to, so we had "pia" for sink and "chuveiro" for shower, and the like. Some funny things (in my limited American view) that they did included leaving leftover food out on the counter and not putting it in the refrigerator, leaving the dishes to clean for the next day, and eating really sweet dessert cake for breakfast! But they were so hospitible and made me feel at home the whole time I was there. Overall, I had a great experience and made some great new Brazilian friends!
Hope you got the recipe for that avocado drink, Hannah. I want to try it!
Posted by: Jean Loden | 10/08/2013 at 10:04 AM